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Council seeks Fedigan’s opinion on GPS systems

PUNXSUTAWNEY — The research is continuing regarding the purchase and installation of a GPS system for Punxsutawney Borough Police vehicles and possibly some others.

The Grant County Sheriff's office in Arkansas has been using the Wireless Matrix GPS system that Punxsutawney Borough Council has been looking at for use here, said Tom Fedigan, Punxsutawney Borough Police chief, at Monday's Punxsutawney Borough Council meeting.

The person he spoke with at the Grant County Sheriff's Department said the system has worked well, and Wire-less Matrix came there and fixed any issues that arose in a timely fashion, Fedigan said, adding that he hoped to get more names of other law enforcement agencies that have purchased a Wireless Matrix GPS.

Larry Chenoga, council president, asked Fedigan to give council a written recommendation regarding the Wireless Matrix GPS and whether council should move forward with the purchase of such a system or not.

"I will give you a recommendation based on what the other law enforcement agencies say based on their experience with the system," he said.

In other business:
• Ben White, Punxsutawney Borough manager, announced that leaf pickup will begin Monday, Oct. 22 with the leaf machine and the street sweeper collecting leaves throughout the borough.

All leaves should be raked to the curb for pickup by the leaf machine crew.

Residents can purchase the biodegradable bags and bag leaves that they've already raked up, contact the borough, and Public Works will pick them up, White said.

"Leaf collection will last several weeks into November; sometimes we've plowed snow and picked up leaves at the same time," he said.

• Chenoga said the the Sewer Vactor crew opening has been posted and said council is also looking to hire a part-time laborer to assist with leaf collection.

• Bill Spencer, council member, said, regarding the police pension fund, the borough is not losing nor gaining money; it's breaking even at this point.

He said the borough will have contributed $126,413 into the pension fund by the end of October.

• Mayor Jim Wehrle requested that council look into replacing the pop machine that was removed because it wasn't making a profit.

Mike Porada, council member, said if there's a new pop machine approved, it should come from an independent vendor, not anyone who works for the borough.